Wednesday, November 17, 2010

A broad secular education can undermine dogmatic religious faith. Knowing this many conservative Christians choose to isolate their children intellectually through homeschooling or enrolling them in religious private schools and Christian colleges. Such children can reach adulthood without ever being challenged to think critically about their religious or political beliefs. In some cases they are recruited directly from Christian colleges into republican politics for that very reason. For this episode the doubtcasters examine this process of indoctrination and argue that it is a threat public education as well. Also on this episode: the religious right's reaction to the U.S. midterm election results and a counter-apologetics segment debunking "beatific vision" theodicies. We also introduce and a brand new segment on mythology called "polyAtheism"

To download this or any previous Reasonable Doubts episode click here. Find the episode you want and right click the "play now" link and select "save target as..."

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

America is one of the most devout nations in the west but it also has one of the lowest levels of religious literacy. According to the U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey published by the Pew Research Center most Americans cannot correctly answer simple questions about their own faith. But America was not always this way…what changed? Stephen Prothero attempts to answer this question in his book Religious Literacy. For this episode the doubtcasters discuss the Pew Survey and offer a short synopsis and critique of Prothero's ideas. Also on this episode: the fundamentalist response the recent string of gaysuicides, the Crystal Cathedral goes bankrupt and a renegade Christian filmmaker discovers the founder's dark secret.

To download this or any previous Reasonable Doubts episode click here. Find the episode you want and right click the "play now" link and select "save target as..."